Bandage the wound
by Totally Kowalski
Summary: Most injuries can be bandaged, fixed. Clean the wound, mend it, give a kiss and they'd be alright. But some wounds can never be healed, some are unaffected by healing spells, band-aids, and potions. Wrap it up to the best of your ability. Bandage the wound until it's impossible. SPOILER ALERT inside.


**A/N: SPOILER ALERT for those who haven't read the final two Harry Potter books. TURN BACK now or be spoiled at the end! Most are made up, except for the end four which are CANON SPOILERS!**

Fred and George Weasley were natural born troublemakers. That being said, they played rough and got dirty and scratched. Most of the wounds were bandaged, except for the ones that could never be fixed.

…

Two year old George cried as he hugged his bloody knee. His twin brother ran inside, screaming for his mother. A broomstick lay abandoned a few feet away.

Molly Weasley ran outside with Percy and Charlie close behind. Charlie held a six month old Ron who was babbling, oblivious to his surroundings.

"Mummy! He falled down!" Fred explained. "We pway on bwoom but he falled off."

"I telled him not to!" Percy said, glaring at Fred.

Molly sighed and picked up George, placed him above her baby bump and brought him inside the house. "Percy, don't look at your brother like that. George, dear, you know that you're not supposed to ride the brooms without my permission. You need to ask me so I can send Charlie to watch you." Placing George on a stool, she magically cleaned his scraped knee and put a big band-aid on it.

"Otay." George sniffled. Fred hugged him.

Molly kissed her son's knee. "You'll be alright, sweetie. Next time, ask first."

"Otay Mummy." George said.

He hopped off the stool and ran to play with his twin, apparently forgetting that his knee hurt.

…

Fred and George managed to last a little more than a year without incident. The next one occurred when their baby sister was two months old. This time, it was their father who came to their aid.

"MUUUUMMM!" George screamed.

"ARTHUR!" Molly called.

Arthur sighed. "Coming!" He said. He ran around the house until he caught sight of a pale looking Fred who was clutching his finger.

"What happened?"

"I-I taked Mummy's wand." The little boy admitted.

George handed the wand over to his father.

Arthur looked over the wound. It was pink and there was a cut, but it wasn't too deep. He took his son to the sink and washed the little fingers off. He then used magic to dry it and then wrapped it up in gauze.

"Fred, George, you both know you can't use Mummy's wand, right?"

Both boys nodded slowly. Fred still looked upset.

"Trouble?" He asked.

"This time, I'll let you go. But next time you will be in trouble, understand?"

"Yes Daddy!" The twins said, grinning.

Arthur sent the boys on their way, wondering how he was going to handle the teenage years.

…

The twins managed nearly three years without incident until six year old George had to go to St. Mungo's.

He had developed a strong cough and complained of a headache, nausea, and tiredness. Molly thought it was the flu and had him in bed until his third day with the flu.

George had been ringing a small bell beside his bed, but he wasn't sure if his mother had heard him. He stood up, immediately feeling nauseous again. The headache pounded the inside of his skull. He stumbled out his door, feeling dizzy. Everything seemed to be moving. He got one foot on a lower stair before slipping.

Ginny and Ron had been coming downstairs and saw George fall. The two youngest Weasleys screamed until they heard feet running up the stairs. Molly found George unconscious and bleeding. She yelled for Bill and Charlie to watch the kids. Luckily the sixteen and fourteen year olds were home for Easter break.

Bill grabbed some more blankets and helped his mother wrap George in them. She then hurriedly Flooed to St. Mungo's with him.

Fred was screaming at Ron and Ginny, blaming them for letting George fall. Ron nearly pushed his older brother into a pile of dirty laundry. Bill and Charlie tried to keep the peace between the three young children, four when Percy became involved.

Finally, once they managed to calm everyone down, they tried to get the story out of the youngest ones. Ron just said he saw George falling but they couldn't catch him because they were far away.

George, it transpired, had hit his head on the edge of a stair and was lucky he didn't break his neck. He was healed up with a band-aid on his head. He also twisted his ankle slightly, which was mended in a second, but wrapped just in case.

George got over the flu a week later, after everyone else in the family got it, and his head was fine. His ankle was not injured, but the healer still wanted it wrapped to prevent swelling.

…

The next incident came a few months later. The seven year old twins decided to play Quidditch. George challenged Fred to fly close to the ground and pick up three year old Ginny with one arm.

Fred managed to grab her, but he twisted his arm and slid off the end of his broom. His wrist had made an odd cracking noise and he let out a bloodcurdling scream, causing Ginny to burst into tears.

Fred was hurried to St. Mungo's by his mother. She gathered all five kids as her husband was at work and the two eldest were at friends' houses.

Percy kept a firm grip on George and Ginny while Ron held his sister's hand as they followed their mother through St. Mungo's. George was fighting to rush in after his twin, but Percy held him back while the Healers worked on Fred.

Once Molly had been told what happened, she sighed in exasperation. "How many times have I told you not to do that?" She asked, rubbing her forehead.

"Many." George said.

"You've got to stop scaring me like this, boys." She said. "I'm getting too old for this."

"I tried to tell them." Percy said. "They don't listen to me."

"Sticky mud." Ginny said.

"I am NOT a stick in the mud!" Percy gasped, clearly offended. "I find myself a very fun person."

Ron and George snickered.

Percy pouted.

"He just needs to rest his arm. We need to make sure the potions are working correctly and require him to stay the night." The healer said, approaching Mrs. Weasley.

"Alright, I'll let my husband know. I'm going to stay the night." Molly said.

"Me too!" George said.

Molly was about to object, but she realized that Arthur would probably appreciate having one less child to deal with on his own tonight, especially when said child was attached to his twin.

"Fine, but we go home to get some clothes first."

"But what about Bill and Charlie?" Percy asked.

"What do you mean, dear?"

"They have to go to school after tomorrow."

"Percy, dear, tomorrow is July 31st, not August. They don't have to go back to school for another month, sweetie."

"Oh."

The next day, Fred was kept nearly the whole day for observation as the potions worked inside him. He was then released with his shoulder and wrist still wrapped up.

…

Six months later, George was injured in a Quidditch related accident. He had been flying with Ron and Fred when Ron lost control and crashed into him. Both boys swerved and jerked as they tried to get control.

Ron thought he heard Ginny yelling for their mother, but he was getting sick on the broom. The broom got caught in a tree and he ended up hanging upside down as his foot was stuck.

George however, slammed into a branch, broke it, and fell down, tangling tangled himself in brambles. His shirt was being torn to shreds. The branch he crashed into caused a scrape to appear across chest about six inches long.

Molly rushed out with her wand. She was able to fix the small wounds and cleaned his stomach injury. She wrapped up his chest and asked if they were ever going to be careful.

"Sorry Mum, we can't if we're Quidditch players!" Fred said.

"Yeah, we're always going to get a little scratched up!" George added.

"But you can fix it, Mum." Fred said. "You can fix anything!"

"Yeah, just a bandage and a kiss then we're fine!" George said.

"Then I shall be expecting full reports of why you ended up in the Hospital Wing five times before a year was out." Molly sighed.

George was put on bed rest for the rest of the day. He was entertained by Fred and the younger two.

…

A few more years passed with minimal non-bandage required incidences, that is, until the twins were ten.

It was early summer and George was woken up by a pained whimper and a groan. It was still dark out. He turned on the bedside lamp to see his twin's pale, sweaty face looking at him.

Fred tossed at turned, trying to say something. George got the message and hurried to his parents' room.

Molly and Arthur hurried to their son's side. They whispered to each other, leaving George out of the loop.

Molly wrapped Fred in blankets and grunted as she lifted him up. He was heavier than he had been when he was seven. Arthur Floo-called St. Mungo's to let them know Fred was coming.

Arthur stayed awake with George. George was wide awake and scared. They waited until morning to go visit them. George had managed to take a two hour nap, but almost refused to eat. Arthur got him to eat under the threat of keeping him here.

Sixteen year old Charlie was woken up by his father and blinked as he was told what happened during the night. The second Weasley son agreed to stay with the others. He was a little put out since this would be the first time he was alone with his siblings since Bill was away at an internship for Gringotts.

Arthur and George arrived in St. Mungo's to find Molly waiting for them.

"His appendix nearly burst." Molly said. "They've taken it out, but he's still out from the sleeping potion. They said it's perfectly normal and Fred will be alright." She added, looking at George's terrified face.

Around noon, George was allowed in to see his twin. Fred looked pale and sickly, but put a brave smile on. George sighed in relief. Fred lifted his shirt and showed George the bandage that was wrapped around his middle. They had to make small incisions to detect where they had to use a carefully done vanishing spell on the appendix. The bandages were to make sure he didn't disturb the wound

Two weeks later, he was given a smaller bandage that looked like a patch. By then, Fred was definitely back to normal.

…

Molly Weasley thought her sons would be slightly calmer and not likely to injure themselves in a castle full of people…she was very wrong.

She received a letter one week into the twins' first term from Percy:

'Dear Mother,

I am glad to be back at Hogwarts for my third year. I wish Charlie could stay longer; he is the only one who is stopping Fred and George from picking on me too much. Speaking of those two, George has been sent to the Hospital Wing. Don't worry, it was nothing major, but apparently he and Fred decided that one of them must be immune to fire. George stuck his hand in the Common room fireplace. He said he was in pain, but he was joking about it at the same time. I was appalled. You should have heard the lecture they got from Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. Apparently Fred dared George to test it out. Luckily, a Prefect managed to stop Fred from doing the same thing. I hope I'm prefect someday so I may keep those two in line. George's hand is wrapped in a bandage to help him heal the burn. I am certain you will have a few choice words for them. There is no doubt in my mind that these two are a couple of Bludgers. I shall write again if anything else happens.

Love from,

Percy.'

Molly sighed, turning her attention to a letter from Professor McGonagall. The Transfiguration teacher stated the same thing as Percy had. Molly wrote a letter to the twins, begging them not to think that they were invincible.

…

The next time one of the twins had gotten injured, they were on the Quidditch team. Oliver Wood tried to get the boys to calm down on the first practice, but they were flying everywhere. This wouldn't have been an issue if they had left the equipment alone as they were waving the large bats around.

Angelina Johnson dodged when George nearly hit her. The bat slipped out of his hand and smacked Fred in the nose. He howled in pain.

Angelina and George hurried him to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey shook her head at them, healing the wound in a second. She put medical strips on his nose that were covered in a healing potion.

Molly Weasley had written them saying to be careful, but she had long given up the idea that the twins would be careful. From that moment on, Fred and George kept a tight grip on the bat and became legendary Beaters.

…

Molly was surprised that Fred and George managed to avoid getting hurt until third year. Of course they'd gotten in trouble tons of times before, but there hadn't been reports of visible wounds until they were thirteen. What surprised Molly was that Ron had to get his hand bandaged when something bit him.

George's hand was bandaged yet again from provoking a Bowtruckle in Care of Magical Creatures class. The creature managed to leave a deep scratch in George's palm. This caused Professor Kettleburn to change the year in which he taught about the creatures.

George had been bandaged for a couple of days, but didn't seem to mind. He neglected to tell Ron about his adventure because he was suspicious of what bit his little brother.

…

The twins kept getting into trouble and injuries over the years, but they hadn't needed bandages until seventh year. Both of them had lines from Umbridge and ended up with their hands wrapped up in bandages. They didn't tell their mother as they were sure she'd come pounding down the doors. They kept it to themselves and vowed that they would get revenge even if it meant they needed more bandages.

…

The next time Fred needed a bandage, he was eighteen. A gnome had bitten him on the ankle. He stunned the gnome and put fake wings on it. Then he wrapped his ankle and told the story to anyone who would listen. The wound healed quickly and he waved it off with a laugh.

…

When George was next injured, he was nineteen. This time, the wound wouldn't be healed through magical bandages or band-aids.

His ear had been cursed off and left a gaping hole. He was weak from the blood loss, but still managed a lame attempt at a joke.

His mother cleaned the area around the wound and wrapped his head in bandages, but she knew that it wouldn't help this time. For the first time in years, George wouldn't be healed completely. He could go on and be successful in life, of course, but everyone would always do a double take to see he was missing an ear. No one questioned the Bowtruckle scratch or the bat smacking Fred's nose because those wounds eventually healed.

…

The next wound would be something that could never be healed. It couldn't even be bandaged or covered up.

They could put bandages or cover the visible wounds. Fred had narrowly dodged a deadly curse, receiving a gash on his arm. He tore the robe of the person nearest to him and wrapped the cloth around his arm. George had done the same when his knee made contact with the stone floor. He had landed on shards of glass when he jumped out of the way. The glass tore his pants and punctured his kneecap.

But the biggest wound of all was something that was irreversible. Neither twin could be bandaged. They had been twenty, but now they were he.

Most would say that the Weasley's lost a son that day, or George lost a twin.

To George he didn't just lose his twin brother, his best friend. He lost part of himself. They had been closer than twin brothers; they had been a dynamic duo. The loss of his brother broke him. It took him the better part of five years to go through the stages of grief. Denial had been the longest stage.

Looking back, he wished that the wound could be bandaged. He wished that his mother could just wrap Fred up, give him a kiss and he'd be okay again. Unlike his emergency appendix removal, he wouldn't be woken up. There was no sleeping potion involved, no matter how much George wanted there to have been.

Bandaging the wound was only skin deep, bandaging your broken heart was challenging, bandaging death was impossible. Death could not be reversed; it could not be bandaged in hopes of healing.

Bandage the wounds until they don't hurt. Take the challenge to mend a broken heart. Move forward from death. Bandage the wound the best you can.


End file.
